If you are interested in volunteering for 2014, please contact Amy Masching at frpp@denverzoo.org.

What is the Front Range Pika Project?

The Front Range Pika Project is a citizen science program that engages the public in conservation research on the American pika. Pika Patrol volunteers follow monitoring protocols to collect data about pikas and their habitat in high altitude field sites, thereby informing efforts to assess whether pikas are impacted by climate change. The project will provide long-term data to aid the conservation of this little-understood alpine species and its associated habitats. Join the Pika Patrol to contribute to pika monitoring studies currently underway throughout the West and help us better understand this native Colorado species!

Urgently needed conservation measures for pikas include a better understanding of population numbers and range, habitat status, threats, and trends/monitoring. The Front Range Pika Project grew out of this pressing need. Our long-term monitoring program is designed to gain an understanding of pika distribution and improve the long-term viability of this vulnerable species. Our focal area is the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies, where high elevation alpine ecosystems provide a bulk of habitat across the species' range. Though local populations could persist in the Great Basin and elsewhere, American pika survival as a species is likely tied to their persistence in the relatively contiguous alpine ecosystems of the Rocky Mountains.